Quick-setting vise clamp



Feb 21, 1955 T. D. PHILLIPS 2,735,323

QUICK-SETTING VISE CLAMP Filed Aug. 27, 1955 www m yi) QUICK-SETTINGVISE CLAMP Thomas D. Phillips, Laguna Beach, Calif.

Application August 27, 1953, Serial No. 376,771

3 Claims. (Cl. 81-17) This invention relates to clamps and moreparticularly to a combination quick setting clamp and vise useful forholding xtures and/or work pieces during machining operations. While theinvention will be described primarily with respect to drillingoperations, it is to be understood that its principles are applicable inother apparatus employed with dierent machines.

A primary object of the invention is to provide an improved combinationclamp and vise which will accommodate diiferent fixtures and/or workpieces varying greatly in their dimensions, and yet which may be rapidlyoperated to engage and disengage a work piece.

Another object is to provide in a clamp of the above type, clampingmeans for securely holding a work piece while such work piece is restingon its own base.

A further object in this regard is to provide means for compensating theuneven pressure set up in the clamp jaws, when the end portions thereofare engaging a work piece.

Still another object is to provide in a clamp of the above type, visemeans for securing a work piece on hardened gibs with a maximum ofclearance above a drill press table, whereby the drill may passcompletely through the work piece without interference and without fearof drilling into the table.

Another object is to provide a combination clamp and vise incorporatinga leveling means for insuring that the apparatus will remain level forall positions of its jaw members.

These and additional objects and advantages of the invention areattained by providing a combination clamp and vise comprising a pair ofjaw members, one of which is transversely xed to a pair of horizontallydisposed parallel rods or guide means. The other jaw member is providedwith bores receiving the rods whereby it may be rapidly moved towards oraway from the xed jaw member. The movable jaw member is provided with aninterior recess through which the guide rods pass. Within this recessthere are provided locking elements in the form of plates havingopenings encircling the rods. A cam means changes the orientation of theplates to cause the peripheral edges of lthe openings to frictionallyengage the rods and thus lock the movable jaw member thereto. Theengagement is such that as the elements are reoriented, the movable jawmember is urged against the work piece with considerable pressure.Release of the camming means initially retracts the movable jaw memberand permits it to be pulled away from the work piece to free it in aminimum of time.

in accordance with an important feature of the invention, the lockingmechanism is designed to engage one of the guide rods prior to the otherwhereby the jaw members are tightened in such a manner as to compensatefor clearance necessary in the locking mechanism itself and tocompensate for give set up in the jaw members when their extended endportions are engaging a work piece.

nited States Patent O 2,735,323 Patented Feb. 2l, 1956 ice A betterunderstanding of the invention will be had by referring to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the combination clamp and vise;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in section, of the clamp shown in Fig. 1in unlocked position;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of that portion of the clamp enclosed bythe circular arrow 3 in Fig. 2 and shows the clamp in locked position;

Fig. 4 is an elevational sectional view on a reduced scale, as takenalong the line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is another elevational sectional view on a reduced scale, astaken along the line 5 5 of Fig. 3; and,

Fig. 6 is still another elevational sectional View on a reduced scale,as taken along the line 6 6 of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 1, the preferred form of clamp is illustrated ascomprising a pair of jaw members 10 and 11. The jaw member 10 is rigidlysecured transversely to the ends of a pair of horizontal parallel guiderods 12 and 13. The jaw member 11 is movable along the rods, beingprovided with a pair of horizontal bores for receiving the same asshown.

The fixed jaw member 10 may be provided with a plate fastener 14 shownas secured to one end of the jaw member. This plate is provided in turnwith two pivo-t pins 15 and 16 to which the arms of a torque compensatormay be aiixed.

The movable jaw member 11 includes a block made up of three platemembers 17, 18, and 19, the purpose of Which will become clear as thedescription proceeds. A suitable operating handle 20 is providedprojecting upwardly and outwardly from the block. This handle is forlocking the movable jaw member to the rods 12l and 13 when the jawmember has been set in a selected position. A further handle 21 projectsup from a slide bar 22. As shown, this slide bar is secured at one endto the block plate 19, its underside being flush With the underside ofthe movable jaw. The other end of the slide bar is secured to the handle21. The handle 21 in cooperation with the slide bar 22 permits themovable jaw to be easily set in any position along the rods 12 and 13without danger of the operators hands being injured.

Another handle 23 may be provided extending upwardly and outwardly fromthe guide rod 13 as shown for vconvenient positioning of the entireclamp, for example, on the surface of a drill press table.

The fixed jaw member 10 may be provided with an oli-set stop or plate 24mounted on a hardened gib 25 upon which a work piece may rest.Similarly, the movable jaw member 11 may be provided with an ofi-setplate 26 mounted on a gib 27 for supporting the work piece. With thisarrangement, the clamp is operating as a vise to support the work piecewell above the surface of the drill press table whereby a bore hole maybe drilled entirely through the work piece without fear of damaging theclamp or table.

To insure that the jaw members 10 and 11 will remain parallel whenemploying the apparatus as a vise, one or more floating rods (not shown)may be passed through aligned bores, such as the two bores 28 and 29,the floating rod thus being parallel to the guide rods 12 and 13.

When the apparatus is employed as a clamp, such floating rods areremoved whereby the extended end portions of the jaws 10 and 11 mayengage a work piece resting on its own base.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, the construction of the movable jawmember is shown in greater detail. The plate 17 which may form anintegral extension of the jaw engaging portion 11, is provided withspaced horizontal bores'4t) and 41 through which the rods 12 and. 13pass. Similarly, the plate 19 is provided with bores 42 and 43registering with the bores 40 and 41 respectively; counterbores 44 and45, respectively, drilled into the inner side of the plate 19 atordingannular shoulders 46 and 47 as best seen in Fig. 3. The center plate 1Sis provided with a recess 48 within which are disposed a pair of lockingplate elements 49 and 50 provided with openings 51 and 52 for receivingthe guide rods 12 and 13 respectively. The openings 51 and 52 aredimensioned to permit easy sliding of the rods therethrough when theelements are in the position shown in Fig. 2, and also tilting of theplates relative to the rods, as shown in Fig. 3. ln theV position ofFig. 2 these plate elements are in their unlocked state and lie in aplane substantially normal to the guide rods.

As shown in greater detail in Fig. 5, the plate elements are arranged tooverlap by the provision of end projections or ears 53 and 54 on theupper and lower end portions of the element 49, and the provision of atongue 55 projecting from the center end portion of the element 50between the two projections of element 49. The arrangement permits thetwo elements to be sequentially moved to locking position by a singlevertical elongated camming surface urged against the overlappingportions as will be come clear as the description proceeds.

Referring again to Fig. 3, the counterbores 44 and 45 in the platemember 19 house compression coil springs 56 and 57, respectively, theinner ends of these springs being seated on the annular shoulders 46 and47, respectively, and their opposite ends engaging the plate elements 49and 50 and tending to bias these elements into their unlocked positionshown in Fig. 2. The elements in this position are supported by pinmeans comprising a series of three pins 58, 59, and 60 (Fig. 6)projecting into the recess 48 in a direction normal to the plane of theelements for providing a three-point seating support for element 49, anda second series of three pins 61, 62, and 63 similarly projecting intothe recess and providing a three-point seating support for the element50. The positioning of these pins is clearly shown in Fig. 6 and it willbe seen that one of the three pins in each set is out of alinement withthe other two whereby their ends mark the vertices of a triangle. Theends of these pins are careiutly mncnined so as to lie in the same planeand thus support the associated elements in cooperation with thecompression springs in a position substantially normal to the guide rodswhen in unlocked position. Because of the 'fact that the elements are sosupported in a plane normal to the guide rods, movement of the movablejaw member is easily executed, the rods sliding freely through theopenings in the elements.

Within the recess 48 there is provided an eccentric member 64- havingenlarged coaxial heads 65 and 66 fitted within a vertical bore 67communicating with the recess 48 as clearly shown in Fig. 4. This memberis of cylindrical shape, having a reduced diameter center portioneccentrically positioned with respect to the vertical axis of thecylinder. The eccentric member 64 is positioned to lie adjacent theplate elements 49 and 50, said member passing down between the pinmeans. As shown in Fig. 4, the bottom peripheral portion of the bore 67may be peened inwardly to form an annular seat B for the head 66 of theeccentric member for supporting the same. The upper head 65 is rigidlysecured to the operating handle 2.0, this handle serving as a means forrotating the eccentric member in the bore 67.

It will be noted in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, that the eccentric member is sopositioned with respect to the plate elements 49 and S0, that in oneposition as Shown in Fig. 2, the plate elements are in substantially thesame plane and are seated on the pin means. When the eccentric member 64has been rotated approximately 180 degrees, the surface 70 thereof willhave cammed the two elements to the positions shown in Fig. 3.

The three plates 17, 18, and 19 are held together as an integral unit bybolts 68 and 69 as shown in Fig. 3. This arrangement permits easyassembly of the three plates, roll pins being used at the oppositecorners to insure perfect alignment as shown in Fig. 1.

Operation The operation of the clamp will be clear from the abovedescription. Initially the jaw members 10 and 11 are separated to permita fixture and/or work piece to be properly positioned between the jaws,either on the gibs 24 and 2.7 or in a. position resting. directly on thedrill press table. The operator then simply slides the movable jawmember 1'1 along the rods 12 and 13 by means of the handle 21 andcooperating slide bar 22 towards the xed jaw 10 to engage the work.

In the event the work is of relatively narrow dimensions whereby thejaws are relatively close together, the slide bar 22 insures that theclamp will always remain in a level position. As shown inv Fig. 1', theslide bar 22 extends a certain distance in a lateral direction from themovable jaw. Since the undersurfaces of the slide bar and jaws areflush, the various members cooperate to provide a fiat base and insurethat the apparatus remains level regardless of the relative positions ofthe jaws.

The clamping apparatus' may be conveniently secured to a torquecompensating device by means of the pivot pins 15 and 16 on plate 14,thereby eliminating additional xtures' for Vholding the clamp againstrotation during a drilling operation. Y

With the two jaws set intok engagement with the work, the operatinghandle 20 is swung around in a counterclockwise direction as viewed inthe drawings to bring the camming surface 70 ofthe eccentric member 64into engagement rst with the plate element 49 and then with both theplate elementsl 49 and 50. Thus, the element 49 will be moved out of itsplane prior to the element 50. Movement of these elements will cause theperipheral edges of their openings to frictionally engage the guide rods12 and 13 to securely lock the movable jaw member to these rods. Becausethe element 49 is moved priorA to the element 50, it will engage rod 12before element 50 engages rod 13. During the interval that the platemember 50 remains free to slide on the guide rod 13, the eccentric 64will react against the ixed plate member 49', to slightly rock the jaw11 in a counterclockwise direction, thereby tending to toe in theextended end portion of the jaw 11 with respect to the jaw 10. Thisaction compensates for the give inherent in the jaws due to theirlateral length.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that when the device is employed asa clamp to hold a work piece resting on the table, tightening of thejaws will tend to spring out the extreme end portions thereof. Theinitial toeing in elect described above, compensates for this give andinsures a substantially even clamping pressure along the Whole lateralwork engaging portions of the jaws when in finally tightened position.

As shown clearly in Fig. 3, when the camming surface 70 has been swungaround into final locking position, both the elements 49 and 50 areevenly engaged and both are in symmetrical positions whereby the finalsecuring forces of the movable jaw member to each rod 12 and 13 aresubstantially equal. The provision of a locking element foreach rodprovides a doubly strong clamping pressure as compared to clampsemploying only a single locking rod. Further, the provision of spacedhorizontal rods to whichY the movable jaw is locked, permits a greaterclamping pressure to be exerted at the lateral end portions of the jawssince such pressure is exerted along a line substantially parallelto andin the same horizontal plane as the rods.

It should be noted in Fig. 3 that the initial movements of the elements49 and S0 result'in the edges of their peripheral openings engaging therods in such a manner as to urge the movable jaw towards the fixed jaw,or to the left as viewed in Fig. 3, thereby exerting a final tighteningor clamping pressure on the work once the jaws have been set intoengagement therewith. This action renders the apparatus particularlyuseful as a vise, since the final tightening of the jaws is quitesucient to support a work piece in any desired position.

To release the work, the handle 2) is simply swung in the oppositedirection permitting the springs 56 and 57 to return the plate elements49 and 50 to their unlocked position against the pin support means. Theseating arrangement comprising the three point pin support for eachelement insures proper alignment of the elements notwithstanding thepossibility of foreign matter working its way into the mechanism. Thechances of foreign matter working its way between one of the pin endsand the associated element is extremely remote.

As the camming surface 70 swings away from the elements in a clockwisedirection, the element 50 will be released prior to the element 49resulting in an unlocking of the jaw from the rod 13 prior to itsrelease from rod 12. This is the reverse of the tightening operationdescribed above and is important when the apparatus is employed as avise supporting a work piece near the eX- tending end portions of thejaws and 11 above the drill press table. The give in the jaws iscompensated for by this action resulting in the work being relieved ofpressure along its engaged portions in a substantially even manner,whereby its tendency to rotate upon loosening of the jaws is minimized.

It is seen accordingly that the present invention has provided acombination clamp and vise which is not only extremely simple tooperate, but may be operated with great rapidity resulting in enormoussavings in time and labor during machining operations. Further, sincethe locking mechanism is incorporated in the movable jaw, a maximumopening of the jaws may be realized without an appreciable addition tothe overall length of the clamp.

Various modifications within the scope of the invention will occur tothose skilled in the art.

The invention accordingly is not to be thought of as limited to theprecise embodiment chosen for illustrative purposes.

I claim:

l. A clamp comprising in combination: a pair of parallel guide rods; afixed jaw secured to said guide rods; a movable jaw having boresslidably receiving said guide rods; a block xed to said movable jaw andhaving a recess therein through which said guide rods pass; a lockingplate within said recess having an aperture loosely passing one of theguide rods; a second locking plate within said recess having an apertureloosely passing the other guide rod; means normally positioning saidlocking plates in a plane normal to said guide rods; and cam meansmounted on said block for engaging and camming said locking plates togrip said guide rods, said cam means being positioned to engage one ofsaid plates prior to the other whereby said one plate will be gripped toits rod prior to the gripping of the other plate to its rod, so that,while said other plate remains free to slide on its rod, said cam meanswill react against said first gripped plate to slightly rock saidmovable jaw, and after both plates are gripped to said rods, said cammeans will react simultaneously against both gripped plates to slidablyadvance said movable jaw.

2. In a clamp having a xed jaw secured to a pair of horizontal parallelrods and a movable jaw having spaced horizontal bores therethroughreceiving said rods in sliding engagement whereby the distance betweenthe jaws may be adjusted by moving the movable jaw along the rods, alocking means for securing the movable jaw to the rods in any selectedposition, comprising: a block forming a part of said movable jaw andhaving a recess therewithin through which said rods pass; a plateelement in said recess having an opening loosely passing one of therods; another plate element in said recess having an opening looselypassing the other rod, each plate element, when said locking means is inunlocked position, lying substantially in a vertical plane normal to therods, said movable jaw having a vertical bore communicating with saidrecess; a cylindrical member mounted for rotation in the bore and lyingadjacent said elements, said cylindrical member having an eccentriccentral portion forming a camming surface that engages said elementswhen the cylindrical member is rotated and that moves said elements outof said vertical plane to a position in which the peripheral edges ofthe openings in the elements frictionally engage the rods thereby tolock the movable jaw to the rods; said eccentric control portion beingmovable so that its camming surface will engage and lock one of theelements to its rod prior to engaging and locking the other element,and, while said other element remains unlocked, will react against saidone locked element to slightly rock said movable jaw, continued movementof said eccentric central portion causing said camming surface to engageand lock said other element, so that said eccentric central portion willthen react simultaneously against both locked elements to slidablyadvance said movable jaw.

3. A clamp according to claim 2, including an elongated slide barsecured at one end to said movable jaw and having its undersurface flushwith the undersurface of the movable jaw, said slide bar extendingsubstantially parallel to and below said rods; and handle means securedto the other end of said slide bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,020,129 Crandal Mar. 12, 1912 1,630,993 West May 31, 1927 2,392,820Heinrich Jan. l5, 1946 2,467,272 Prenveille Apr. l2, 1949

